Flash and Show

Old War Horse.

cjkphoto — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:38:30 +0000

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

cjkphoto — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 04:14:01 +0000

From the Archives

cjkphoto — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:47:20 +0000

Phone Photography

cjkphoto — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:41:37 +0000

I’m going to make it a point to stay in practice. What a better way than to always take pictures. Since I don’t want to lug my camera gear everywhere, phones will have to do.

I was skeptical, but after playing around with an iPhone and EVO with the tons of apps available, I think I am set.

More on this later. For now, my first in this continuous theme.

Preview – Roxanna and Charles

cjkphoto — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:29:17 +0000

This will be my first WordPress post from their mobile app. Specifical, Android.
I knew this wedding was going to rock. These folks are my roommates and my good friends.
Any further validation of this event kicking ass was done by simply driving there. The event location: Los Olivos, CA. The drive: the scenic Hwy 101, Hwy 154, and Figueroa Mountain Road. Beautiful day, great excitement in the air. Here is a pic to gander out while I furiously edit the barrage of images I captured that day.

This raptor has an important message to say.

cjkphoto — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:56:06 +0000

This message is not affiliated with after mentioned place described below.

He says you must visit the Tucson Sonora Desert Museum. Yes, it’s in Arizona. And yes it’s in Tucson. It’s like Arizona’s little secret. For a small fee, you get to see raptors like this hawk.

They have wonderful displays and demos. Anything exotic? Nope. You’ll get your Mountain Lions and Bears. But no Siberian Tigers, no Elephants, no Giraffes. It’s a collection of animals, flowers and plants from the region. One of the best laid out “zoos” in the world. I kid you not. Google it.

wedding: Christy and Jason

cjkphoto — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:41:16 +0000

Once again, it’s catch up time. In the month of March, I witnessed a spectacular wedding. These two are a match made in heaven. The bride picked a wonderful theme that was able to give everyone a clear insight to how thoughtful this couple really is. From the colors, to the centerpieces, you name it. This kind of creativity is really inspiring. Most of all, it was fun for all. Everyone had a great time. The honored couple, the family, guests, and the talent brought in to help everything perfect. Good food, great beer, great times were shared by all. The only thing missed was Agnus the cat.

Click the link below the first pic for “MOAR”.

For the full gallery, click here.

e-session: Amber and Jeremy

cjkphoto — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:51:45 +0000

Jeremy is a long time resident of Orange. We decided to shoot this outing in his own town only a couple of blocks from his cool house. One of the funnest couples I have been around, Jeremy is a cigar aficionado, Amber is an aficionado-tolerant. I am not sure what that means. I just made it up.

In all seriousness, this is one awesome couple with a cool kid in the mix. And their wedding can only be ridiculously awesome.

As always, click “more” for more pics. And enter the gallery here.

Southwest by…Southwest

cjkphoto — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:43:19 +0000

There is no sense of irony when taking a trip to see the folks in the Southwest. Even if flying in a Southwest 737. Besides the holiday occurrences and festivities, there was still some other things to see. There was a beautiful ranch now operated by the King’s Kids. King’s Kids is a place where the youngsters can have fun doing the western sort of things. It’s a great place for photography. And I am not alone in that thought. Dozens of artists, painters, photographers and even movie productions make it down there every year.

Later it was a trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. On the way there was a peak that was begging for a picture.

How much “art” is in photography?

cjkphoto — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:30:44 +0000

We all know that photography falls under the arts when fitting the term into categories. However, if anybody liked my work as a photographer, I would be taken back a bit if I heard the heard the word artist used in any description of me. I do have a creative bug in me, but it’s not the same as someone that can draw, paint, or sculpt.

Since art is so loose of a term, let’s call it something else. Magic. We often call things beyond our understanding, magic.

I call stuff beyond explanation, magic.

How much art magic is in my images? None.

I have a confession. It’s all technical. It’s pragmatic, it’s ideal and it’s logical.

We photographers try with all our might to convey an emotion in a 2D image. An image that doesn’t have sound, doesn’t move, completely dumb and lifeless in itself. And yet, people expect magic. We give it to them. Even if it means staying up until the late hours with bloodshot eyes, caffeine jitters and several curse words.

It means cleaning up clutters, acne, distracting backgrounds, taking out a hotspot, easing up the shadows. Then it’s the mood elements. Colors, contrast, soften/sharpen, etc.

Blue means somber, sad, melancholy. Increased contrast means drama. I could go on. But there are psychologists and others that have PhD’s permanently attached to their name that figured this out a long time ago. It’s all about the human eye gravitating towards something in a consistent manner.

Totally technical, totally not magical.

I’m not saying it’s all done here, in front of the computer. Because it really starts at the shutter button. Composition, exposure, blah blah blah. We all know that.

But no matter how much progress I make when finding the magic, it’s going to kick my ass. Repeatedly.